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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Caldwell and Leith Connections Found?

On Monday I wrote about some of my middle name mysteries. I had four names that I hoped might lead me back a generation; Hurcombe, Goodwin, Leith and Caldwell.

With those names in mind I started looking at my tree and searching online for new information. It wasn't until I went searching through files that were already on my computer that I found something. This is far from the first time that I've had the answer all along had I only re-looked at what I had. I guess this is a lesson that I'm just never going to learn!

Just to recap. James C Kelly was the son of Michael Kelly and Mary ____. James married Isabella White, the daughter of James M White and Isabella Craig. Isabella Craig was the daughter of John Craig and Agnes Adam. The children of James C Kelly and Isabella White were; James Hurcombe Kelly, Mabel Adam Kelly, Phillip Goodwin Kelly, Alexander Craig Kelly, Mary Leith Kelly, Gordon ____ Kelly, Isabelle Caldwell Kelly, Joseph _____ Kelly. (Is that enough Isabella's and James' for you?)

Barbara Griffith has done extensive research on the Adam family. She was kind enough to share her transcription of my great-grandfather, James M White's, obituary. At the time I wasn't specifically looking for references to the middle names of his grandchildren!

For a long time Mr. White had employment with the CALDWELL firm, and his name had often been mentioned in the tales of the old lumbering days on the Clyde River.

There may or may not be a family relationship to the Caldwell's so I won't cross the name off my list just yet but it is possible that Isabella Caldwell Kelly was named to honor her grandfather's business associate.

Also from Ms. Griffith's work was some information about James M White's sister daughter, Ellen White [edited to correct relationship]. Ellen married Robert Leith. From the information provided I was able to verify that Ellen White and Robert Leith were married at Knox Presbyterian Church, Montreal, Canada on 4 Apr 1883. They had four children, Isabella C Leith, Annie Rae Leith, John Gunn Leith and Briar May Leith. Robert Leith's mother was named Ann Rae so daughter Annie was named for her paternal grandmother. I'd bet that Isabella was named for her maternal grandmother, Isabella Craig White, and that her middle initial C was for Craig but so far I haven't been able to verify that. I have no idea if the middle names Gunn and May were somehow significant.

I got a little side tracked there. Isn't that always how it goes? Anyway, Ellen White Leith died 20 Mar 1899 which was just a little more than a year before Mary Leith Kelly was born. Was Mary named to honor her? Was there another connection to a family named Leith? Robert Leith lived in Outremont, Quebec, a fair distance from Dalhousie, Ontario so how did they meet? Always more questions! Another thought that I had was that while I know that the Craigs were from Paisley, Scotland, I do not know where the Whites were from. Could they have been from Leith?

Of the four names that I have now found connections to, all four connect back to Isabella White Kelly's side of the family. Will the other two names lead in that direction too or are Hurcombe and Goodwin connected to the Kelly side? I still do not know the maiden name of James C Kelly's mother, only that she was Mary and was from Ireland.

They were all listed as brothers and sisters on the census together in Montreal. I'm trying to find out why there are no parents listed and what happened to them.

Alexanderina married Thomas Hall and lived in Montreal (Outremont) born in Richmond, Quebec. Robert Leith lived with them at one point. Not sure if that is your Robert Leith. Although I accepted Robert Leith an Ellen White on my Ancestry tree, I'm not certain. The names add up though. Robert is definately on two records with my great grandmother Alexandrina Leith born in Scotland. We use the name Rae also. I think the Rae came from Ann Rae; can't be certain though.-Margaret